Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1887-12-31

two numbers is about 5 feet 8 inches, and
this standard is generally agreed upon by
a~nthropologists as a division line in the ap-
proximative classification of the races ac-
cording to their height. If we may believe
the ancient authors, a large number of giants
and giantesses attained extraordinary stat
ure, even for persons of that class. Pliny
mentions the giant Gobbara, who was 9 feet
Q inches tall, and two other giants, Poison
and S~ecundilla, who were half a foot taller;
Garopius tells of a young giantess who was
10 feet high, and Lecat Of a Scotch giant III
feet in height. But we may take it for
granted that these figures are greatly exag-
gerated, while we have a right to regard as
authentic giants whose height runs up to 81
feet. The Grecian giant, Amanab, now IS
years old. is Z feet 8 inches tall; the Chinese
giant, Chang, s feet 8 inches. The Austrian
giant. Winckelmeier. who was recently ex-
hibited in Paris, measuring 81 feet, may be
regarded as a specimen of the highest stature
attained by the human species. At the op-
posite extremes may be found numerous
not more than 20 inches, and some
even as little as 16 and even II inches in
height; but such dwarfs are only monsters
with atsophied limbs or twisted b~ackbones,
or stunted infants, whose age is usually ex-
aggerated by their Barnums. One of the
most remarkable dwarfs on record was the
celebrated Borulawsky, who was corn in
17S9, and died in 1887, who was never more
than % inches i'll height, was perfect in every
limb and proportion, and was bright and in
telligent. The conditions that affect the
stature of populations and races of men may
all be described under one general head-that
Of nutrition. The size of a population. a race
or a group of individuals living for several
generations in the same conditions of en-.
vironment and resources is proportionate to
its nutrition.
1t was long believed that climate alone had
a great influence N stature; and, in fact, if
we regard the white or light colored races,
we remark that the stature is less in climates
Of extreme temperatures than in temperate
ATTITUDES. In the extremely cold Arctic
regions, the Laps, Esquimaux, and Green
landers are very small; but coming down
into more temperate regions and more fertile
countries, we find much larger races, like the
Norsemen, Russians, Anglo-Saxons and North
Germans in Europe, and the Canadians and
Indians in America. Farther south, and as
the temperature becomes hotter, the stature
diminishes; a fact which may be verified
among the Italians and spaniards, and which
IS observed in most of the great regions of the
globe. These variations are not the effect Of
climate, but are directly dependent, as we
have already said, on nutrition. In verv
cold climates assimilation is excessive, for the
organism needs a large quantity of food to
sustain it against the outer temperature. If.
in consequence of the rigor of the climate
and the limited resources of the country
in game and fish, waste is q little
superior, or quite equal, to assimilation, the
population subject to such conditions must
continue small. This is the case with the
Laplanders and the Esquimaux of the Arctic
islands and the east coast of Greenland. But
when game and fish are abundant the Stature
Of the tribe rises-as takes place with the Es-
quimaux. whose average height increases as
their habitat draws nearer to their southern
limit. There the Esquimaux cease to be
dwarfs and reach the average height of So
feet, O greater than that Of the French popu-
lation. The influence of climate upon stature
is, therefore, a question of faculty of assimi>
lation and of the quantity OF available food.
For this last reason, the fertility of the soil
has a considerable influence upon the size Of
the population.
Famines and frequent or prolonged dearths
have the effect of reducing the size of tie
peoples who are exposed to them. Wars jr.
duce the same result, and this not only by the
operation of the material disasters and
miseries which they occasion, but also
through the los of a large number of the
most vigorous and robust men of the nation,
and the enfeebling infirmities and sufferings
of those who survive. This is what took
place in France during the long period of
war that prevailed at the close of the Eish-
tenth century and during the first empire.
One Of the less recognized agencies affecting
stature is fatigue, under the influence Of
which the height diminishes. A soldier. for
instance, is perceptibly taller before than
after a forced march; when the body i:
fatigued it gives way, the cartridges lose Their
elasticity and become thinner, and the fatty
and fbrous cushions, which give spring to
the organs of locomotion, become less supple
and more a~ttenuated, all Of which contribute
to the diminution Of height. Tho fact is
known to the tricksters, who practice upon
young men liable to military service, SO as to
secure exemptions for them. If the men are
only a few centilneters over the minimum
standard Of the service, these practitioners
put them through q variety of fatiguing ex-
e~rcises, with carrying of burdens and priva-
tions, ETC., till they succeed in reducing them
below the minimum and causing them to be
on examination. The ratio of muscu-
lar energy to the pound of living weight is
much greater with small " middle sized
men than with very large ones. The length
of the limbs Of the latter necessarily occasions
amplitude in his motions that makes exc
cution slower. Lengthof limbs also contrib
to a waste of strength. Thus, looking at
military aptitudes, it is middEng sized or
small men that offer the greatest energy,
power to resist fatigue, and activity in bat
tie; and of this Kind is the popular type Of
of the French soldier-the petit chasseur, or
the soldier of the line.-M. Guyot Daubes.
for The Popular Science Monthly
from La Naturel